Alarm-clock.



W. E. PORTER.

ALARM CLOCK.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.29,1909.

941,042, Patented Nov. 23,1909.

mnazw. a. 511mm (20.. PHOYOUNOGRAPHERS, WASHlNGYON. n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILSON E. PORTER, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO NEW HAVEN CLOCK CO., OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION.

ALARM-CLOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 23, 1909.

Application filed March 29, 1909. Serial No. 486,403.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, lviLsoN E. PORTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Alarm- Clocks; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in

Figure 1 a view in front elevation of a clock-movement embodying my improvement, the upper portion of the front plate being broken away, some of the pillars and arbors being shown in vertical section, and

the alarm-changing and alarm cut-olf lever being shown at the extreme limit of 1ts out- 1 ward movement, which is the position 1111 which it is placed for the sounding of an intermittent alarm. Fig. 2 a detail broken: view 111 front elevatlon of the alarm-mech-' anism with the alarm-changing and alarm cut-oft lever at the limit of its inward movement in which position the alarm is cut off.

Fig. 8 a corresponding view showing the alarm-changing and alarm cut-off lever in its intermediate position in which it is placed for sounding a long or continuous alarm. Fig. 4 a broken plan view showing the parts of the alarm-mechanism 1n the positions in which they are represented in Fig. 1

2. Fig. 5 a detached view of the alarmchanging and alarm cut-ofi' lever. Fig. 6 a corresponding View of the intermittentalarm lever.

My invention relates to an improvementpointed out in the claims.

In carrying out my invention, as shown, I employ an alarm-changing and alarm cutolf lever 2 having an operatmg-arm or handle 3 by which the lever is manually operated as desired. The said lever is also furnished wit-h stop arms at, 5, which engage with the upper and lower faces of the movement pillar 6 and limit the rocking of the lever which is mounted upon a rockshaft 7 journaled at its ends in the front and rear movement plates 8 and 9. A helical frictionspring 10 encircling the inner portion of the rock-shaft 7 abuts at its inner end against the rear plate 9 and at its forward end against the inner face of the lever 2 and holds the same in any one of its three positions, but this may be provided for in other ways. The said alarm-changing and alarm cut-off lever 2 carries an operating-pin 11 arranged in position to engage with the upper edge of the upper arm of a yoke 12 forming the outer end of an intermittent alarm-lever 13 mounted on a rock-shaft 14c and having at its inner end a long finger 15 I which coacts with the teeth of an intermittent alarm-wheel 16 which is secured to the pinion 17 of the time-train, which may be of any approved construction and needs no detailed description. As shown, the pinion 17 is carried by an arbor 18 also carrying the third wheel 19, so called, of the timetrain by means of which the intermittent alarm-wheel 16 is constantly rotated under the beveled end of the finger 15 of the intermittent alarm lever 13 which is provided with a spring 20 exerting a constant efiort.

to press the finger 15 down into engagement with the teeth of the Wheel 16.

The outer ends of the arms of the yoke 12 are turned inward to form fingers 21, 21, which are separated by a clearance space 22 which is provided for the vibration between the said fingers of a stop-arm 23 formed by turning downward into the horizontal plane of the upper end of a stop-wire 24 which is mounted in the usual manner upon a rock-shaft 25 carrying the verge 26., of the alarm-train. This verge coacts with the teeth of an escape-wheel 27 mounted upon the arbor 28 of the alarm-train which may be of any approved construction and which needs no detailed description. The

arbor 28 also carries and vibrates the hamprovement as embodied in the clock shown in the accompanying drawing, 1 will pro ceed to set forth the operation of the alarmmechanism.

When the alarm-changing and alarm cutoff lever 2 is thrown, as shown in Fig. 1, to the limit of its outward movement in which it is held by the friction spring 10, its operating pin 11 is lifted suliiciently above the upper edge of the upper arm of the yoke 12 of the intermittent-alarm lever 13 to clear the same so that the said lever is left free to be rocked by the action of the intermittent alarm-wheel 16 and the spring 20. Now when the finger 15 of the lever 13 is lifted by the teeth of the wheel 16, the clearance space 22 of the yoke 12 will be brought into alinement with the stop-arm 23 of the stop wire 21- and permit the same to vibrate into and out of the yoke 12 through the space 22, it being understood that at this time the alarm-mechanism proper has been released in the usual way by the dropping of the alarm-eam pin 33 off an alarm-cam 3 1 carried by an alarmwheel 35 which is meshed into by a pinion 36 carried by a wheel 37 meshing into and driven by the cannon-pinion 38 on the center-arbor 39, all in the well known manner. The said pin 33 is mounted in the projecting front end of the alarm-setting arbor 10 which passes as usual through a sheet-metal alarm-trip spring 41 the free end of which is hooked for engagement with the hammer wire 29. The clearance-space 22 in the yoke 12 having, as aforesaid, been brought into registration with the stop-arm 23, the same will vib ate in the said space, and an alarm will be sounded until the particular tooth of the wheel 16 with which the finger 15 was engaged at the beginning of the sounding of the alarm has, by the action of the timetrain, been carried beyond the beveled end of the said finger which will drop off the point of the said tooth and fall to the bottom of the out between the same and the next tooth in front of it on the said wheel. In other words the spring 20 will now assert itself and quickly rock the intermittent alarm-lever 13 with the effect of lifting the yoke 12 so that the finger 21 of the lower arm of its yoke 12 will catch the stoparm 23 on its inner or outer edge, as the case may be, whereby the vibration of the arm 21 will be stopped, and hence the alarm-train, which will be held until the linger 15 of the lever 13 has been gradually lifted by the rotation of the wheel 10 so as to again bring the clearance space 22 into registration with the stop-arm 23. The alarm will now be again sounded until the finger 15 drops oil the next tooth of the wheel 16 and so on. in this way an intermittent alarm is sounded, the inter-missions between the soundings of the larm being regulated by the amount of separation between the teeth of the wheel 16.

By moving the alaran-changing and alarm cut-oil lever 2 into its intermediate or vertical position, as shown in Fig. 3, its pin 11 will be engaged with the upper edge of the upper arm of the yoke 12, and the intermittent-alarm lever 13 will be rocked, against the tension of its spring 20, enough to bring its clearance space 22 into registration with the stop-arm and to clear its linger 15 from the wheel 16. Under these conditions the lever 13 is virtually cut out of action or retired, and a long alarm is sounded just as though the lever 13 was not present.

By swinging the alarm changing and alarm cut-oil. lever 2 to the limit of its inward position in which it is shown in Fig. 2, the pin 11 acting against the spring 20, rocks the lever 13 still further so as to bring the inner or outer edge of the linger 21 of the lower arm of the yoke 12 into engagement with the stop-arm 23, whereby the stop wire 24. is held against vibration. Under these conditions neither an intermittent nor a long alarm can be sounded.

It will thus be seen that by shifting the single lever 2 the clock may be converted from an intermittentto a long alarm, and vice versa, and also that the alarm may be suppressed altogether by the same simple means.

1 claim 1. In an alarm-clock convertible from an intermittent to a long alarm and vice versa, the combination with an alarm-wheel continuously rotated by the time-train, of an intermittent alarm-lever operated by the said wheel, and a combination long-alarm, intermittent-alarm, and cnt-ott' lever co-acting di rectly with the said intermittent alarm-lever for causing the clock to sound an intermittent-alarm, or a long-alarm, or to cut-ell the alarm altogether.

2. In an alarm-clock convertible from an intermittent alarm to a long alarm, and vice versa, the combination with an alarm wheel continuously rotated by the time-train, of an intermittent alarm lever coacting with the said wheel and provided with a yoke the arms of which terminate in lingers separated by a clearance space, an alarm-ehanging lever coacting with the intermittent alarmlever for shifting the position thereof, and a stop-arm vibrated by the alarm-mechanism and coacting with the said lingers and the said clearance space in the sounding of an intern'iittent or a long alarm, and in cutting oil the alarm altogether.

3. In an alarm-clock convertible from an intermittent to a long alarm and vice versa, the combination with an alarm-wheel continuously rotated by the time-train, of an intermittent alarm-lever operated by the said wheel, and a combination long-alarm, intermittent-alarm, and cut-0E lever coacting directly with the said intermittent alarm lever and provided at its lower end with stops limiting its rocking movement in either direction.

4. In an alarm clock convertible from an intermittent alarm to a long alarm and vice versa, the combination with an alarm wheel continuously rotated by the time-train, of an intermittent alarm-lever coacting with the said wheel and provided with a yoke the arms of which terminate in fingers separated by a clearance space, an alarm-changing lever provided with an operating-pin engaging with the upper arm of the said yoke for shifting the position of the said alarmchanging lever, and a stop arm vibrated by the alarm mechanism and coacting with the said fingers and the said clearance space in the sounding of an intermittent alarm or a long alarm, and in cutting OK the alarm altogether.

5. The combination of alarm mechanism and a forked lever to control the same, said lever being capable of occupying three positions, in two of which the two prongs will cooperate with a part of said alarm mechanism to stop the alarm, and in one position of said lever said part of the alarm will vibrate between said prongs and operate said alarm, and a manually operable part for positioning said lever.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILSON E. PORTER.

lVitnesses FREDERIC C. EARLE, CLARA L. \VEED. 

